Pre-buying Heating Oil????

[Helene]

Just wondering if any of you "lock-in" your heating oil price. I live in NE PA and current lock-in rates are $2.36/gal. It'a the lowest offered in the last 4 years, but I'm still hesitant to lock-in.

Anyone out there with a crystal ball to know where prices are likely to go this winter???

 

[missysid]

We just filled on the summer rate at 1.29 a gallon and while it is not set yet (July 15th) they think the winter prepay price will be 1.49-1.59 and we will go ahead and pay for 500 gallons and that should last us until March or April next year. We go ahead and prepay because of our work schedules and payroll. I am on salary but DH works in Ag field and overtime comes in the summer and fall. I like not having to worry about it in the winter when we are on straight pay for both of us.

 

[Helene]

WOW.... that is cheap!!

Where do you live?? I haven't seen those prices for heating oil in at least 5 years.

 

[missysid]

We are in central Illinois. I was surprised to that it had come down in price so much from last winter - but I am not complaining

 

[akenneson]

We don't do a "pre-buy", but we do work with an oil company that locks in a rate for us. We have a contract with them that states the max we would pay per gallon even if it goes higher, but we also get the lower per gallon price if it's lower. We use oil even in the summer months because our hot water is heated that way. So the oil company also calculates how much oil we use on a yearly basis and then budgets an amount for us to pay every month. We always have a credit on our account so they pay us interest as well. It works really well for us to pay $100 or so per month than paying hundreds at one time.

 

[mickeyboat]

We installed a wood stove last summer, and are heating primarily with that - so our "pre-buy" money has gone to wood. That being said, we filled our second tank full a couple of weeks ago at 1.99 / gal - cash price. I can't believe how cheap you guys are getting it!

We almost always "win" with a pre-buy / budget-type plan, but we are glad we didn't lock in last year (the lock in was at almost $5), and won't ever lock in again.